Bump Pay lets you pound fists and magically transfer money to friends

Bump Pay is a new experimental app from the makers of Bump that instead of pounding fists to share contact information, lets you share money.

It works by initially connecting to your PayPal account. Then you launch the app, type in the amount of money you want to transfer and bump hands with the person you want to send it to. Within a few seconds, you lose the money and they gain it.

It’s pleasantly simple.

Bump won’t charge you for any transfers as long as you have a bank account connected to your PayPal account and the app itself is free to download for iPhone and iPod touch. (Bumping iPads would be awkward and possibly costly.)

You might be asking yourself why you’d need to have an app like this especially if you’re the type of person to have money on them at all times. The best answer I can give is the same one Bump uses: it eliminates the common IOU.

There are a few downsides worth mentioning. I noted above that it’s free to transfer money if you have a bank account linked with your PayPal, but if you have only a credit card, a small percentage will be charged. Also, as handy as the whole bump-for-cash thing sounds, it takes two to tango just like the main Bump app.

If none of your friends have Bump Pay or a PayPal account, you won’t get any use out of the app. If you were to suggest for them to download it, by the time that’s done, you probably could have opened up the PayPal app and sent the money the more traditional way.

For many, Bump Pay is a clever new way to share money quickly and easily while you’re with friends. Sadly, there’s no Android version, but iOS users can indulge whenever they’re ready.